Ashes and Graces

Readings for Wednesday, February 22 / Ash Wednesday:
Joel 2:12-18
Psalm 51:3-5, 12-14, 17
2 Corinthians 5:20-6:2
Matthew 6:1-6, 16-18

Today we begin once again that great season of Lent. A practice said to have begun in the time of the Apostles, we have always held this time as a special season of grace. Modeling the 40-day temptation of Christ in the desert, where He was led by the Spirit, ministered to by angels, and tempted by the devil, we ourselves take up the yoke of penance and ask to be led by the Spirit into the spiritual desert where our faith is proved in the fire of temptation. 

To aid us in this purification, we turn to those ancient practices of fasting, almsgiving, and prayer. These practices are for us a sort of spiritual medicine to heal the soul of its sinful inclinations, especially what St. Paul calls the 'triple lust' - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and pride of life. These three lusts are part of our fallen nature, and really are the sins that cause Adam and Eve to fall. If we turn to Genesis 3 and read the account of the Fall, we see that Eve saw that the forbidden fruit was 'good for food' - lust of the flesh. She longed to eat it. Secondly, she saw that it was 'pleasing to the eyes' - lust of the eyes. She knew it was something that she wanted but ought not to have. Lastly, she knew that it was 'desirable for wisdom' - pride of life. She wanted to become more than what she was, thinking this would enable her to do so. And so, the triple lust of the heart led Adam and Eve to partake of the fruit and merit condemnation. 

Temptation in the Desert, 15th Century French work

Centuries later, Christ the Lord was led to the desert to be tempted by the evil one. Interestingly, the devil tempts Him in the same manner as Adam and Eve - a sign that Christ is the New Adam and brings about a New Creation. The devil tempts the Lord, who is indeed hungry from fasting, to make bread out of the stones in the desert. Lust of the flesh. Jesus remains faithful to the Father and resists the temptation. The devil shows Christ the huge landscape and promises great power over it if He would but submit to the devil. Lust of the eyes. Christ sees all that is possible before Him, rejects the temptation and remains faithful. Lastly, the devil tells the Lord 'if you are the Son of God, leap from this tower and let the angels catch you'. Pride of life. The devil tempts the Lord, who could well have done this and all things, to exalt Himself in the midst of the world. Christ rejects the temptation and remains humble and faithful. By rejecting these three temptations of the triple lust, Christ brought redemption where Adam and Eve had sown condemnation. 

As we gather today, we take up that practice of fasting to fight the lust of our own flesh. We give alms to the Lord by charitable giving and works, showing that we are not seeking to build up our own wealth. Lastly, we turn to the Lord in prayer and recognize that God is God and we are not. These things do not exactly come easy, though, as we have likely found in the past. It takes a certain amount of effort, but more than that, it takes a tremendous amount of God's grace. And to help in that we have the recovered practice in Lent of the Prayer Over the People at the conclusion of Mass. Normally at the end of Mass we have the Post-Communion prayer, wherein the priest uses the 'we' and 'us' to include himself in the prayer for God's grace to come upon the community as they have received the gift of the Eucharist. The Prayer Over the People comes immediately after that prayer and does not use the 'we' but rather is the priest praying over the community in the name of the Lord. This practice was used from around the 3rd Century until the Second Vatican Council in the 1960's and now is in use once again since it's restoration by Blessed John Paul II. As noted, the difficulty of keeping our penances - both those chosen ourselves and those given us by the Lord - is sometimes intense and so the Church pours upon the faithful a sort of second-helping of grace in order to persevere and be found faithful as Christ was faithful and so merit for ourselves not condemnation but grace and redemption.

Slapping Heretics and Blessing Children

Readings for Tuesday, December 6/ St. Nicholas:
Isaiah 40:1-11
Psalm 96:1-3, 10-13
Matthew 18:12-14

On this feast of St. Nicholas, many of us conjure up images in our head of a jolly round fellow with rosy cheeks and a joyous laugh that makes his belly jiggle like a bowl full of jello. Good ole Saint Nick! Most of us don't know about the more serious side of good ole Saint Nick though. While St. Nicholas is certainly remembered as the good saint who blessed children with gifts and whose memory still lives on today, he was also a great defender of the faith in the early ages of the Church. 

At the Ecumenical Council of Nicea in 325, there was addressed a heresy called Arianism, after its promoter, Arius. Arius denied the fullness of divinity in Christ and this error was spreading wildly throughout the Church. Saint Nicholas, a great bishop and defender of the divinity of Christ went to the Council and in front of the community, slapped Arius across the face for his heretical teaching. This literal attack against heresy (and a heretic!) was meant to be a stark way of showing those in erroneous belief that they were wrong, had strayed from the fold, and needed to come back to the truth. This echoes the desires of Christ, who speaks today in the gospel about the need to leave the ninety-nine in search of the one lost sheep. How great is the rejoicing of one who returns to the fold. 

While today we usually don't go around slapping people who are contradicting the True Faith (which would consume much of our day, honestly), we are called to pray for these souls and to encourage them and sometimes challenge them. Who in our own lives has strayed from the flock? Let us lift up that person(s) to the Lord today in prayer through the intercession of St. Nicholas.

Sustain Me

Readings for Tuesday, November 14/ St. Albert the Great:
2 Maccabees 6:18-31
Psalm 3:2-7
Luke 19:1-10

"When I lie down in sleep, I awake again, for the Lord sustains me."

As we come here to this Mass today we hear these encouraging words from the psalmist, speaking to us of the love that Our Lord has for us and the fact that He is constantly thinking of us and holding us in existence. The closeness of God at every moment is something incredible to contemplate. 

The account from Second Maccabees of the elder Eleazer is so beautiful in itself that we could spend hours contemplating it. Before Christian martyrs witnessed to us, we have this witness of the faith of Eleazar, who offered his life to God rather than even appear to defile himself before others. As he went to his death, he did so not only with great suffering but also great joy in his soul. Certainly the Lord was with him, sustaining him in the midst of those trials.

Most of us, though, are not so boldly called to rely upon the sustenance of the Lord. More often than not, in my own life and experience, it comes in simply relying upon Him in the midst of the hectic lives that we lead. Turning to Him in the course of the day and reminding ourselves that it is only by His grace that we are able to accomplish the things that we do. We can be mindful of this by the example of St. Albert the Great, whose feast we celebrate today. In the twelfth century, St. Albert was revered as a "teacher of everything there is to know" - one who was well-versed and even a leader in chemistry, natural sciences, philosophy, theology, architecture, and general daily wisdom. He shaped the mind of St. Thomas Aquinas, whose theology stands as the norm for teaching 800 years later. He was consulted by business men, builders, religious seekers, and the pope on all various accounts. And yet in the midst of all of those various ventures he still found himself able to effectively minister as a bishop and leader of the Dominican community. Those who look at his life cannot but be shocked at the amount of work he accomplished in his life and often at the same time and truly this is all attributed to the work of God, who continually sustained St. Albert all throughout those works and made them bear the fruit they did because he truly dwelled in the Lord. 

From his example we can find our own encouragement, that in the midst of our busy days caught up in so many things - though not so glorious as his - we can still find Our Lord and remind ourselves that it is He who sustains us.

The Great Sign of Love

Readings for Wednesday, September 14/ Feast of the Exaltation of the Cross:
Numbers 21:4-9
Psalm 78:1-2, 35-38
Philippians 2:6-11
John 3:13-17

This feast in honor of the Cross of Our Lord has it's roots in several historical events, the most notable being the finding of the True Cross by St. Helen in the fourth century. That event is significant, but more significant is the meaning of the Cross and the gift that it is to us. When we hear those familiar words of John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son..." - we quickly realize that the clearest sign of that love is nothing other than the Crucified Lord. The Israelites looked upon the serpent which was 'lifted up' and lived. Today we look not upon a serpent but upon the Lord Himself, Who was also lifted up, and gazing at Him we too are able to live, not simply because we have looked upon Him but because we are pierced to the heart by the Love that is so clearly manifest in that great sign.

Our Three Deaths

Caravaggio's 'St. Jerome' depicts how St. Jerome kept a skull in a prominent place in his home to 'remember death' and to live his life in light of that reality.

Readings for Wednesday, September 7:
Colossians 3:1-11
Psalm 145:2-3, 10-13
Luke 6:20-26

Today we hear Mother Church reminding us of our three deaths - we are invited to two and obliged to accept the third. These three deaths are, of course, our baptism, our path to holiness, and our physical death.

In his letter to the Colossians we hear St. Paul reminding them "You have died!" This calls to mind the fact that in baptism we truly do die with Our Lord. The ancient symbol of immersion was often viewed as one entering into the grave and, after full immersion, a subsequent rising from the grave and into the promise of new life. It reminds us that the life we led before is gone and that we are new creatures in Christ, adopted sons and daughters of the Heavenly Father. This adoption leads us to the second death that we are invited to receive - the daily death to ourselves that characterizes the life of those who take seriously the death they endured in baptism. This daily death points out the fact that although we are new creations, we still have concupiscence in our heart (a tendency toward sin) and that we must fight to rid ourselves of those things that are not fitting to our new adopted status. This daily death we must accept until we encounter that final death, which all the living must endure and pass through to gain eternal life.

The beauty of these deaths is that we do not simply stop at death, for as Mother Church reminds us in our Collect (Opening Prayer) today, Christ has conquered death and brought life. Our first death allows us to rise to that new status; the second death allows us to rise from vice to virtue; and the third death enables us to enter into that Eternal Life promised to us in baptism, where we might join with the angels and saints in praising the Trinity for all eternity.

Gloria in excelsis Deo!

Readings for Tuesday, August 23/ St. Rose of Lima:
1 Thessalonians 2:1-8
Psalm 139:1-6
Matthew 23:23-26

"That is how we speak, not as trying to please men, but rather God, who judges our hearts."

In the realm of Spiritual Theology, we speak of a number of 'ends' of man, things that we are tending towards; goals, in a sense.We hopefully have regular goals of striving for one virtue or another and eliminating some vice that we find in ourselves, but these are all oriented towards a greater goal - holiness. In the gospel today we find the Lord challenging the Scribes and Pharisees because they lack holiness. They do a little bit here and there but miss the main point. They don't know the real goal but simply settle for the things that please themselves. In stark contrast we find Paul speaking to the Thessalonians about his intention to speak so as to please God rather than to focus on pleasing men. Here we find one who has the goal in sight: glorifying God. This is our ultimate end or goal. We were created to glorify God and we do this by being saints in heaven. We become saints by being living witnesses of God's holiness in this life on Earth. Pray that we all might keep our eyes on the true goal and not settle for anything less. 

Mary, the New Ark

Readings for Monday, August 15/ Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary:
Revelation 11:19, 12:1-6, 10
Psalm 45:10-12, 16
1 Corinthians 15:20-27
Luke 1:39-56

“God’s temple in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant could be seen in the temple. A great sign appeared in the sky, a woman clothed in the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.”

In the Bible, as we have it today, the first line quoted above is in chapter 11 and the following verses comprise chapter twelve, as if they were different things that John was seeing. The truth, however, is that they Ark of the Covenant and the woman clothed with the sun are one and the same. The ark is the woman and the woman is our Blessed Mother.

To understand the depth of this we need to understand the meaning of the Ark of the Covenant in the Old Testament. The Ark was a large wooden box plated in gold that contained three significant items: the tablets that held the Ten Commandments, a container of the Manna from the desert, and the rod of Aaron, which sprouted and showed God’s selection of the High Priest. More importantly, the Ark was known to be the very dwelling place of God and so for the people of Israel to be in the presence of the Ark was an honor because they were in the presence of God Himself. In the midst of a war, the Israelites carried the Ark away from Jerusalem and buried it so that it would not be taken by foreign nations. It was never seen again after that and for hundreds of years the people of Israel longed to see it’s return.

It eventually did come back to them, but not in the form they anticipated. Rather than a gold-plated box, the Ark came to Jerusalem in the form of a teenaged virgin who bore in her womb the Son of God, Jesus Christ. Like the Ark of days past, she too held within her great treasure. Rather than a simple tablet Commandments, she bore the giver of the entire Law. Rather than the jar of Manna that sustained the Israelites in the desert, she held the True Bread from Heaven, the One who gives us Himself in the Eucharist. And rather than a staff symbolizing the selection and power of the High Priest, in her womb was the High Priest that all other priests bow down before. But like that Ark before her, she was indeed the dwelling place of God.

This is not just some connection that we have conjured up. Rather, it has scriptural backing and that backing is found in those details we pass over so quickly. For instance, the phrasing used to tell of how Mary went out to visit her cousin Elizabeth is the same as that used to describe how King David went out to meet the Ark of the Covenant as it came into Jerusalem. When David drew near to the Ark he is said to have leapt for joy in the presence of the Lord. The same description is applied to John the Baptist, who leapt in His mother’s womb at Mary’s arrival. As David enters into the presence of the Ark and the Lord Himself, he is dumbfounded and in absolute awe. And what do we hear on the lips of Elizabeth? “How does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Furthermore, we know that the people sang hymns and chants before the Ark of the Covenant. The word to describe that singing is used only four times in the Old Testament and all of them are in reference to the Ark. That same word is used only once in the New Testament and it is found here on the lips of Elizabeth as she cries out in a loud voice “Blessed are you among women and blessed is the fruit of your womb!” And finally, David went out and stayed in the presence of the Ark for three months before it came into Jerusalem. And what is the conclusion of this gospel passage? “Mary remained with her about three months and then returned to her home.”

The richness of all of this is to simply show that Mary was absolutely right when she said “all generations will call me blessed” because she bore within herself the Son of God, the Word Made Flesh, the Savior of the Human Race. And as we celebrate this blessed feast of her Assumption today we once again honor our Blessed Mother and rejoice at the great gifts bestowed upon her. As the Ark was pure and incorruptible, so too was Our Lady free from sin and because of her blessedness did not suffer the fate that we shall, that return to the dirt from which we came. Rather, she was taken up into Heaven to reign forever as Queen of Heaven and to give us here on Earth encouragement as we recall that this life is not the end. We are all called to be saints in Heaven. With our Blessed Mother’s prayers, may we hasten toward that wonderful homeland where we might reign with her and all the saints forever. 

And just for fun...

Like Children

Readings for Tuesday, August 9/ St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross:
Deuteronomy 31:1-8
Deuteronomy 32:3, 4, 7-9,12
Matthew 18:1-5, 1, 12-14

"Unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven."

Most children have no qualms telling adults what they want. They will quickly and repeatedly tell you 'I want this' or 'I need that' because they realize quite well that they are not capable of getting it themselves. They are dependent on others to help them and it is evident by their reaching out to us to help. And this is what the Lord desires of each of us - to reach out to Him.

St. Thomas Aquinas says that humility is simply knowing the truth. And the truth is that we are nothing. And yet we are everything in the eyes of God. Everything that we do is solely because of God's grace. His grace permits each breath we take and every action we do throughout the day; we are utterly reliant upon Him for everything. And the challenge is for us to truly realize it and to live it. To recognize that, like a child, we cannot do for ourselves but must simply cry out 'I want' and 'I need' to the One who can truly provide for us. Come, Holy Spirit, and teach us how to pray.

From the Lips...

Readings for Tuesday, August 2/ St. Eusebius:
Numbers 12:1-13
Psalm 51:3-7, 12-13
Matthew 15:1-2, 10-14

In response the charge that his disciples aren't following the traditions that the Jewish leaders had set up, the Lord reminds them and us that it is not what enters the mouth that defiles us but that the things that come forth from our mouth do. He speaks to the reality that sin happens primarily in our hearts and then it is often manifested in words. I find it significant that we have a concrete example of this in the reading from Numbers, as Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses. They didn't do anything, they simply spoke against him and that was enough to merit punishment from the Lord.

One way that the Church has encouraged us throughout the years to purify ourselves is by having a devotion to the Holy Name of Jesus. In the liturgy we bow our heads at the name of Jesus. In conversation we ought to use His name sparingly and if it is spoken in vain - what a great practice to say in response "Blessed be the name of the Lord!" to remind others that His name is to be held sacred. Furthermore, the scriptures tell us that at the name of Jesus, every knee bends in heaven, on the earth and under the earth. So as we use our very lips to speak that powerful name, that name which has the power to cast our demons and cure the sick, we are mindful that our lips ought to be a place of purity and praise; on them ought to be praise, uplifting words, and truth, not negativity, profanity and lies. In this way we can ensure greater purity for ourselves.

Reflecting God

Readings for Monday, July 18/ St. Camillus:
Exodus 14:5-18

Exodus 15:1-6 (in place of resp. psalm)

Matthew 12:38-42

I love the lives of the saints because we get to see the virtues lived out in a really radical way. You know, each saint tends to have at least one virtue that really shines in their lives. As we celebrate St. Camillus today, I want to say that his shining virtue is humility. His feast is regularly the 14th of this month, but since that is the memorial of Blessed Kateri, a native of our land, he is 'perpetually transferred' (as the Ordo so nicely puts it) to the 18th. The real virtue that shines in him though is that of charity. His life was dedicated to serving others, especially those who were ill and in need of care. So alive was the charity within him that he would truly see those he served as 'other Christs,' going so far as to beg their forgiveness for his own faults. It was also said that he was so intent on serving others and letting the love of God be known that if there were no more people above the ground to meet, that we ought to go underground to see if there are souls there. What charity coursed through his veins and dwelt in his soul! And yet we also realize that it was truly the Lord who was alive in Him, the God who is Love Itself. 

So often when we turn to the Bible we think about the Gospels and those moving letter of St. Paul, but the reality is that the Old Testament is full of wonderful one-line prayers that we would do well to pray with also. For instance, in Exodus today we hear Moses tell the Israelites, who are fleeing in fear of the Egyptians, "The Lord Himself will fight for you; you have only to keep still." What a beautiful sign of God's love for us - that we truly need do nothing but keep still in Him and all will work according to His plan. My we have that grace today and everyday, and so shine ourselves with that same love that He shows to us.

The Bread

Readings for Friday, July 15/ Memorial of St. Bonaventure:
Exodus 11:10-12:14
Psalm 116:12,13,15-18
Matthew 12:1-8

"This day shall be a memorial for you, which all your generations shall celebrate...as a perpetual institution."

Some people have this idea that the Catholic Church just kinda happened, it just popped up one day and we started worshiping God. The reality, however, is that the Catholic (Christian) faith is really the successor and fulfillment of the Jewish faith. The Jews awaited the Messiah and when the Lord Jesus came, the Jews needed no longer look because He had finally come. And so when we read this passage from Exodus today we find that we too are called to celebrate that perpetual institution and celebration, the Passover. The term 'pasch' which was applied to the Jewish Passover is still actually used by the Church today to describe our Easter celebration - hence, Paschal Season.

I like how the readings match up today also because the Exodus reading is about the offering of the Passover and in Matthew's gospel we read a selection where Jesus begins to speak of His apostles as priests. Look at the two instances that Jesus cites. First He recalls how David and his men at the 'bread of offering'. The reality is that this bread - twelve loaves to symbolize the twelve tribes - was made by the priests and only for the priests and it was kept before the Lord perpetually, so to eat of the bread to was to participate in a way in the priest's rights. And secondly, Jesus cites how the priests labor on the Sabbath and are innocent and connects that with His apostles, again correlating them with the priesthood. And so Our Lord begins to show the reality that these men would be His priests and would one day offer that true sacrifice to God - bread and wine. How blessed are we today to have through those men the gift of the Eucharist that comes to us on this altar, this special occasion where we continue that perpetual celebration spoken of over 3000 years ago.

Here I am!

Readings for Friday, July 8:
Genesis 46:1-7,28-30
Psalm 37:3-4,18-19,27-28,39-40
Matthew 10:16-23

"I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves."

We often hear about the proverbial 'wolf among the sheep' and how dangerous it can be for all the sheep because a single wolf can certainly do much damage if not quickly struck down. And yet today we hear the Lord tell His Apostles that they are being sent as sheep among wolves. In essence the Lord is telling them that they WILL be torn to pieces - they will be persecuted, beaten, and endure much suffering on His account. Though all of us are likely not to be so intensely persecuted as the Apostles were, we too must also face the reality that when we go and preach the Gospel in the world today we are in a sense being sent as sheep among wolves. The world does not always like what we have to say and will likely work to tear us down. But in the face of that, we must ultimately pray for the grace to always stand strong and be willing to pick up our cross and follow the Lord. Today, may we receive the strength that Jacob had, who upon hearing the voice of the Lord respond simply and boldly, "Here I am!"

The Journey and The Model

The Crucifixion by El Greco

Readings for Wednesday, March 23/ St. Turibio of Mongrovejo:
Jeremiah 18:18-20
Psalm 31:5-6,14-16
Matthew 20:17-28

As we listen to the gospel passage today, we hear this third announcement from Christ of His passion, death, and resurrection. This time, as they are actually walking on the way up to Jerusalem, the Lord pulls the Twelve aside to tell them more explicitly than ever before all that would soon come to pass. But why? Why then? And why so explicit?

Some suggest that it is so that the Twelve would know what was coming and not be utterly blindsided when it happened. Others suggest that it is so that they might have faith despite the events. To these two thoughts St. John Chrysostom adds a third: Christ announced these things so that the Twelve would know that He had full knowledge of all that was to happen to Him – including all of the suffering – and yet He boldly went up anyway, doing so out of love. In this light we see that His announcement stands as a model that they – and we - are called to imitate, a model of suffering out of love.

Like James and John and their mother, we can sometimes lose sight of the necessity of suffering, though. Like them, we too can seek to attain the glories of the resurrection without enduring the sufferings of the passion and death on the cross. And just as James, John, and their mother approached the Lord and were reminded of the necessity of this suffering, we too are reminded through our prayer and sacrifices in this season of Lent that the only way to eternal life is through suffering and death, following that same model of love Jesus Himself set out for us.

It is an obvious fact, my brothers and sisters, that all us have our trials to endure. They may be little or great, spiritual, physical or emotional, but we all have them. And we also have the guarantee that more will come our way in the future. The challenge then is to know that those trials exist and will continue to come, and yet still follow after Christ who boldly went up to Jerusalem, each of us going to our own personal passion and death. The question that each of us must ask ourselves is this: are we ready? 

Everyday Love

Readings for Wednesday, February 23/ St. Polycarp:
Sirach 4:11-19
Psalm 119:165,168,171-2,174-5
Mark 9:38-40

When I was a teenager and early in my time at seminary, I used to burn with this great love for God and great zeal that would come out in very interesting ways. I would pray that God would allow me to suffer the pains of having the stigmata for Him. I would pray to be martyred or suffer some great painful trial for love of Him. I would always suggest to the Lord these great ways in which I could show Him how much I loved Him. And then one day when I was praying I heard Him ask me, 'Can you love me in the everyday?' Sure I can speak these great pious phrases about showing my love, but when it came down to it, could I show God that I love Him when I'm on the interstate and traffic isn't moving? Can I show God that I love Him when I am hungry and the people preparing the food just aren't quick enough? Can I show God that I love Him when I get that extra class assignment to do when I already have plans to enjoy a nice weekend off? Can I love Him in those times? 

Today Mother Church celebrates the feast of St. Polycarp, a bishop in the 2nd Century. He was a man who battled against heretics, was consulted by Pope Anacetus on the placement of the date of Easter, and has at least one letter extant which we can read today. The most notable thing, however, is the marytrdom that he suffered at age 86, being burned alive on a pyre. For us today, it is important to understand that all of those great things were only possible because St. Polycarp loved God in the everyday. In a life of 86 years, these few small facts about his life illustrate only a small piece of his work for the Lord. None of us can know the countless small acts of love that he made to God that gave him the grace to say yes in those times of great trial. Each small 'yes' was one more step in being able to make that final 'yes' in martyrdom. 

For us today, we have the gift of remembering once again St. Polycarp and the example of his life lived in humble service and love of God. And modeling ourselves on his life, we are called to see those ways in which God is inviting us to love Him in the everyday, leading us closer to those greater acts of love to come along out journey. God grant that we might be able to choose the way of love.

Imitating the Mother of God

Jesus praying with Mary

Readings for Saturday, January 1

(Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God):

Numbers 6:22-27

Psalm 67:2,3,5,6,8

Galatians 4:4-7

Luke 2:16-21

Each year at Christmas and Easter we celebrate what is called an octave. We recognize the significance of those two great events in the plan of salvation and so celebrate them not for a single day but for eight consecutive days. As we celebrate this octave of Christmas, we have the opportunity to reflect for a longer time on the mystery of the Son of God taking on human flesh and dwelling among us. And as we reflect on this great mystery, it is also fitting that we honor the Blessed Virgin Mary under the title of Mother of God. As with all of her titles and honors, this title certainly speaks to her special graces received, but it also speaks to us about Christ Himself. Really, she speaks to us about Christ.

In referring to Our Lady as the Mother of God, the early Church Fathers saw that this affirmed that Christ was both fully God and fully Man. He is the Lord of all creation coming to dwell among us to bring us into that relationship with the Father. And He chose to do this by taking on our nature, experiencing everything but sin. These are the most evident ways that Mary, under this blessed title, directs us to her son. But there is also another way and this is in the fact that she is the mother of God. The relationship between a mother and child is a special one in which the child constantly learns from the mother and imitates her.

I was once told a story by a lady that when she was younger she had a car with one of those roofs where the lining was falling in and it would flap in the wind while she was driving down the road. To keep it out of the way she would hold the wheel with her left hand and hold up the cloth from the roof in her right hand while she drive. The funny thing was that one day she came into the living room and found her little daughter sitting on the floor with her right hand raised in the air and her left hand out in front of her. The mother asked, “what are you doing?” and the daughter innocently replied, “I’m driving.” The daughter had associated her mother’s action of holding up the cloth from the roof with that being the proper way to drive. She simply imitated her mother.

And as we look at Mary, we recognize that she is not just the Mother of God, but that she is also our mother. And just as the little girl imitated her mother in driving, so we are to imitate our mother Mary in prayer. This is what our gospel speaks to us today. Mary hears the many great things from the men who came to see the Christ child and she reflects on them in her heart. And she seeks to share that with us.

I’ve been coming here throughout the week to spend time praying before this beautiful nativity scene we have and when I read this gospel passage a few days ago I noticed that this is the exact scene described in our gospel. You can even see it on the face of Mary as she quietly, simply gazes upon her little son, reflecting on the many things that were just told her about Him. Surely the thoughts stream through her head as she hears again those words of the Archangel Gabriel nine months before, the words of her cousin Elizabeth, and the many hidden things in her life leading up to that day. And she continued to reflect all of this throughout Christ’s whole life – from his time as a carpenter and the miracle at the wedding feast in Cana up to His passion and death, where she knelt at the foot of the Cross reflecting on all of this in her heart. Certainly she experienced sorrow, but she also contemplated all that had been in the past and all that was to come. In all of this she held it in her heart, contemplating the mystery of her son and the plan of God unfolding before her. And as her sons and daughters, she desires for us to join with her in this contemplating. She seeks to have us imitate her in pondering the Lord who came among us.

Those of you who came to Mass yesterday were told by Fr. Frank that I like to give homework in my homilies. While I don’t want to start the New Year by giving you homework, I want to suggest something that you might consider as a bonus assignment that will certainly gain you many graces. Sometime today or tomorrow, take some time to be with Mary. Find a good place to really enter into the silence and ponder in your heart with our mother the many things that she seeks to show you, the things that she herself has come to see in Him. You may want to do this by praying a rosary and really trying to enter into the mysteries and the prayers. Or maybe you could come and sit here before the nativity, gazing upon the child with His mother. Or you could go into the adoration chapel and sit in the seat that is literally at the feet of the statue of Our Lady, gazing upon the Lord in the Blessed Sacrament. In all of these, we are sure to be blessed if we simply turn to our mother and truly contemplate with her the face of Jesus Christ.

No Cross, No Crown

Readings for Monday, November 22/St. Cecilia:
Revelation 14:1-5
Psalm 24:1-6
Luke 21:1-4

No cross, no crown.

Yesterday we heard Saint Luke’s account of the crucifixion of Our Lord, reminding us of the fact that it was only through his passion, death, and resurrection that Christ became the King of All Creation. The cross won Him the crown. And as we begin this last week in Ordinary Time, we find that the Cross has now cast its shadow across these final days. As we celebrate the memorial of Saint Cecilia, we recognize that today kicks off a sort of ‘Week of Martyrs,’ in which the necessity of the Cross in the Christian life is made manifest by the shedding of blood of so many witnesses – Cecilia, Clement, Andrew Dung Lac and his companions, and finally Catherine of Alexandria before we get a break from the bloodshed on Friday. Though this isn’t necessarily something planned by the Church for the last week of the year, it does stand for us as a reminder of the close connection between the cross and our heavenly crown.

In these our final weeks of class, most of us are starting to feel more intensely the weight of the cross in the forms of papers, presentations, and other such academic requirements. This in addition to the private crosses of spiritual struggles, the sickness or death of loved ones, and many other burdens that each of us are given to bear. But in all of these things, we must keep our eyes on the prize of heaven. Rather than give in to frustrations and to try to avoid the weight of the cross, we must rather accept it joyfully and put our trust in the Lord. Like the poor widow in the gospel who gave her whole livelihood, trusting that the Lord would take care of her, we too must give ourselves entirely over to Him, trusting that He will also take care of us not only in this life, but also in the next.

*And because it's my mom's patronal feast day: a second picture of Saint Cecilia rocking out with the angels!

Unity of Christians

Sts. Peter and Paul
Icon of Christian Unity

Readings for Friday, October 8:

Galatians 3:7-14

Psalm 111:1-6

Luke 11:15-26

Several years ago I was curious about the number of ‘churches’ in my hometown of Denham Springs. I opened up the phone book and turned to the churches section and found nearly 60 different places just in Denham Springs. I was shocked that there were so many there, and I can only imagine how many are here in Baton Rouge. And yet, I know that no two of those ‘churches’ really teach the same thing. And not just disagreements on small articles of faith, but major ones. I was looking at a website the other day and found a page speaking on how the Trinity is not Biblical and isn’t a reality. The Trinity - one of the core beliefs of the Catholic Church; really, THE core belief of the Catholic Church. And yet at this other Christian ‘church’, they say otherwise. Such great disunity.

In the Gospel today, Jesus is accused of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebul, himself a demon. Jesus points out how foolish this is, saying that any house that is divided against itself cannot stand. We know that the Catholic Church will never be destroyed because Jesus Himself said that gates of hell shall not prevail against her. But that doesn’t mean that we won’t have some major problems along the way. Remember the Jews of the Old Testament; the Lord made many promises to them.  The promises made to them were fulfilled by God, but along the way they endure many trials, much persecution and two major exiles from their land. They were divided and they paid a price, but the Lord was ultimately faithful to His promise. Just like the Jews of old, we Christians lack unity. The over 40,000 protestant denominations that have arisen in the past 500 years attest to the fact that Christians are clearly not united.

It is fitting then, that today as we listen to these words that speaks of division and destruction, that we pray for the unity of all Christians. Pray that all Christians might once again be brought together to be united in spirit and in truth, and be one as Jesus and the Father are one, as the Lord said in the scriptures.

Courage

Readings for Wednesday, October 6/
Memorial of St. Bruno:

Galatians 2:1-2,7-14

Psalm 117:1,2

Luke 11:1-4

Give us each day our daily bread.

Traditionally we have seen this petition of the Lord’s Prayer to have two meanings. First it is the Bread of Life, the Eucharist. This is the Bread that sustains our spiritual life and give us grace. Secondly, and linked to it, is the daily bread of the many graces that we need to make it through the day.

If we look at the Letter to the Galatians, we can see that what we need daily as part of that ‘daily bread’ is the virtue of courage. St. Paul recounts here how St. Peter failed to exhibit this virtue. The Jews traditionally separated themselves from the Gentiles, and so would not eat with them at meals. Knowing this was not really in line with Christian belief, St. Peter would eat with the Gentiles when the Jews weren’t around, but as soon as they showed up he would again distance himself from the Gentile Christian community because he was afraid of what the Jews would do or say. St. Paul recognized this and, although he was the least of the Apostles, called St. Peter out for doing something that was out of line. Here he showed great courage in stepping up to the leader of the Christian community to bring him back to the truth.

As we come to receive the daily bread of the Eucharist today, may we also receive the great gift of courage so that we might be able to do those things that we ought to do and to bring back those who have strayed from the truth.

The Divine Artist

Caravaggio's The Martyrdom of St. Matthew

Readings for Tuesday, October 5:

Galatians 1:13-24

Psalm 139:1-3,13-15

Luke 10:38-42

A few weeks ago I reflected on an experience I had of studying a painting by the artist Michelangelo Caravaggio. I want to return to that experience, but now in a different light. Before I spoke about looking into the meaning of a particular painting, but this was only part of the assignment. The whole assignment was to research the painting, as well as the artist, and to be able to discuss it in light of the other works he had done. Essentially, we had to find out what are the characteristic elements the artist used and show how they were incorporated in the main work. As I began to study his different pieces of art, it was interesting to note that there were many similarities, many things that were almost universally present in his paintings. And yet there were also here and there little details that pointed toward something specific he had experienced in his life. In the midst of so much the same, there were little differences.

This is what struck me as I was reflecting on our readings for today. In the psalm we encounter an image of God as a sort of Divine Artist who creates each of us uniquely. As the psalmist says, God knits us together in our mother’s womb and forms our inmost being. If we look around, we can see some of the commonalities – obviously a physical similarity, a mental similarity, and because we are created in the image of God, we all have dignity as persons. And while we have these similarities, we also have many differences. We look different from one another, we have different interests, and we have different gifts. This is where the beauty really lies; it would be simple to make carbon-copies of us, but the fact that each of us is specially molded by the Lord speaks to the great love that He has for each of us as His sons and daughters.

As we celebrate this Eucharist, may the Lord, who knows us more deeply than we know ourselves, show us the gifts with which we have been molded and give us the grace to put those gifts to good use, so that we, like Saint Paul, might bring others to glorify God by those gifts.  

Angels in Battle!

Readings for Wednesday, September 29/

Feast of the Archangels:

Revelation 12:1-7-12

Psalm 138:1-5

John 1:47-51

Today Mother Church celebrates the feast of the Archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael and as we do, we not only honor them but we also recall the great things they have done and continue to do for us. In our first readings we heard about the great fight that broke out in Heaven and how Michael and his angels fought against Satan and his angels, which we know now as demons. Michael and his angels were triumphant and Satan was thrown out of heaven and the scriptures recount this hymn of praise “now have salvation and power come”.

But for us today, it is important to look at what immediately follows that hymn of rejoicing and praise. If we look at the very next verse we hear St. John telling us “But woe to you, O Earth and sea, for the devil has come down to you in great wrath for he knows his time is short.” It then briefly accounts how, being cast out of heaven, the devil tries to kill ‘the woman’ whom we know to be Mary. And failing to do that, the scriptures tell us that the devil then turned instead and set out to kill her children.

My brothers and sisters, we are the children of Mary. We are the ones that the devil is seeking to kill. But we are not alone in the battle. With us here are Michael the Archangel and the other angels, battling among us not for control over the heavens but for control over our hearts. You and I both know how easy it can be for us to forget about the spiritual realm because so much of what we do each day is focused on physical things; and yet the physical things we see are but a small portion of reality. The challenge then is to remember that the reading from Revelation is not just about a one-time event but in a sense points out that there is, to this very day, a spiritual battle going on all around and even with us each day and that the angels still play a vital role in attaining victory in those fights.

As we come to this altar today and join with the angels in singing that hymn “Holy, holy, holy,” we give thanks for all the angels, especially Michael, Raphael, Gabriel,  for their protection until this point and ask that it might continue until we enter into Heaven where we will reign victoriously with them for all eternity.